654 entrepreneurs: managers and owners of small and medium-sized business

8 federal districts

Objective of project

Determination of the level of readiness of small and medium-sized companies of the Russian Federation to market digitalization, calculation of the index of readiness for digital economy

Identification of barriers and problems of doing business in terms of digitalization

Study of public assistance programs for small and medium-sized business

Partners

Bank Otkritie is one of the top 10 largest banks in Russia and is a systemically important financial institution. It has been operating in the financial market since 1993 in the following business areas: corporate, investment, retail, small and medium business, and also Private banking. Otkritie today is a financial group that has great potential for further business growth. The group includes leading companies in key segments of the financial market: insurance company Rosgosstrakh (insurance), NPF Lukoil-Garant (pension industry), Otkritie Broker (brokerage services).

Skolkovo Foundation is a non-profit organization established on the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation in September 2010. The purpose of the fund is to create an ecosystem for development of entrepreneurship and research in the following areas: energy efficiency and energy saving, nuclear, space, biomedical, computer technologies and software. The Skolkovo Innovation Center is operated by the foundation management. The special law provides special economic conditions to startups that have undergone external technological expertise.

Research methods

A representative nationwide survey of small and medium-sized business (including individual entrepreneurs) was conducted by NAFI in February 2019. 654 executives of enterprises were interviewed in 8 federal districts of Russia.

Overview

Business Digitalization Index

The business digitalization index demonstrates the level of readiness of small and medium-sized companies for digital transformation of business environment. The BDI index can take values ​​from 0 percentage points (minimum) to 100 percentage points (maximum) and is calculated as an arithmetic average between values ​​of five partial indices.

Data storage and transmission channels

use of digital transmission channels and storage of information (Internet, cloud services, etc.)

Human capital

involvement of management in self-development and staff development in the sphere of digital technologies

Moscow entrepreneurs in comparison with regional companies use digital channels of transmission and storage of information more actively. In Moscow the share of companies using mobile Internet and broadband Internet access is higher than in regions (75% and 77% against 68% and 59%). One third of Moscow companies uses cloud services (32% against 19% in the regions). Every fourth Moscow entrepreneur uses servers for storage and processing of data (25% versus 18% in the regions).

Integration of digital technologies in business processes

The most popular internal corporate technology in Moscow and in the regions is the Intranet (40% and 39% of organizations use it). Moscow companies more often utilize regional CRM systems (27% against 15%), chat bots (11% against 6%) and automated personnel recruitment management (13% against 5%).

Using online tools to promote products and services

Moscow companies more effectively use the Internet as a tool to promote their products and services. More than half of Moscow companies have a website with detailed information about the company and their activities (57% against 26% in the regions). One third of organizations based in Moscow has a page on social networks (36% against 28% in the regions). The proportion of those who advertise their production on the Internet and promotes the company's website in search engines is significantly higher in Moscow (49% and 41% against 39% and 31% in the regions). 38% of organizations in regions and 32% in Moscow use messengers to communicate with customers.

Information Security

Russian companies still pay no attention to information security issues. Only every third company (33%) in Moscow has an approved information security policy, and every fourth (25%) has such policy in the regions. One third of Moscow companies (36%) and one quarter of regional firms (24%) use information protection programs specially developed for organizations. However, almost half of the companies (45% in Moscow and 46% in the regions) use antivirus software for individuals. One third of regional companies has no information security systems at all (35% against 20% in Moscow).

Human capital

Moscow and regional companies pay little attention to additional education in the field of digital technologies for employees, 89% of companies in Moscow and 94% of regional organizations have never organized educational training or courses in this area for their employees. At the same time, 47% of managers companies in Moscow and 53% in regional firms note that there is no need to conduct educational courses. 33% of entrepreneurs in Moscow and 24% employers in the regions believe that such trainings are needed only for employees who are directly connected with digital technology.

Results

Process of transition to digitalization offers a number of advantages both for companies themselves and for the state. The benefits of introducing new technologies for entrepreneurs are reducing the company's costs, increasing labor productivity, and optimizing customer interaction processes. The state is interested in simplifying administrative procedures, optimization of process of regulating SMEs and growth of the SME segment.

At the same time entrepreneurs are not sufficiently informed about the opportunities offered by digitalization, and are not always ready to invest their time and financial resources to develop new technologies and digital competencies of employees. Therefore, it is important to consult small and medium business, to explain to entrepreneurs the advantages of digital business model.

Data presentation

The results of the study were presented at the «Digital Business Evolution» Forum. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs and managers of small and medium-sized business participated in this event. The forum was organized by the Government of Moscow (Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development of the City of Moscow) and Bank Otkritie.